Dance of Lovers
by Chapgirl
Summary: Tsukushi's and Tsukasa's wedding is approaching and for that day they will have to learn a proper dancing routine. Since Tsukushi's never danced before, the two of them take dancing lessons. It's a big surprise when they find that their dance instructor is Sasara Haruka, a former childhood friend of the F4! Picture's my OC, Haruka. HAVEN'T DROPPED IT! JUST WRITING STH ELSE FOR NOW!
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, I am so excited!" The wedding planner blabbered "This is going to be the wedding of the century! The flowers! The dress! The cake! And, of course, the first dance!"

"Th-the dance?!" Tsukushi Makino stared at the middle aged proffesional in disbelief. "What dance?"

"My, the couple's first waltz, of course." She looked at Tsukushi and her fiancee Tsukasa as if they came from another planet.

"Uhm, no, I don't think that will be necessary..." Tsukushi mumbled, unconsciously sliding her glossy brown hair behind her ear.

Tsukasa sighed. He had looked annoyed all day. This really wasn't his topic, but Tsukushi had insisted on him coming along.

"Young lady! The first dance is absolutely necessary! You will have to be the jewel of the day!"

"But, I, you know..." Tsukushi fumbled with her fingers "I don't know how to dance..." She almost whispered those last words. Once again it made her feel the gap between her and Tsukasa.

"Oh, dear, that will be no problem at all. I thought that this would happen and so I have already arranged your first dance lesson with one of the country's best instructors!" The wedding planner exclaimed happily.

"Dance lesson?" Tsukasa growled. He was quite obviously displeased by the thought.

"Not to worry, Domyouji-san, it has been fit into your tight schedule so that there won't be any problems." She carried on.

"Dance lesson?" Tsukasa asked once more. He looked even sterner now.

"Yes. But we don't have time to keep talking about this! There are so many things to discuss!" Oblivious to the fact that her customer seemed unsettled, she trailed off.

Tsukushi and her fiancee were entering through the wide doors of the dancing atlier. In the hall, a friendly looking attendants' desk was welcoming them, but there was nobody there.

"Ano, hello?" Tsukushi said "Anybody there?"

She heard a clatter from the far side of the room, behind a door.

"I'm here, coming!" A friendly female voice exclaimed.

Tsukasa looked annoyed already. He wasn't used to waiting.

As if the dance instructor could sense that she hurried outof the room. At first sight Tsukushi was surprised that such a young girl was supposed to be a succesful buisiness woman, since she coldn't have been much older than herself. Also, she was short. Almost half a head shorter than Tsukushi. She was slender, but, on contrary to Tsukushi, cold present quite a bosom. Tsukushi had expected her to have dressed in a more proper manner, but the young girl was wearing a white tanktop atop jeans shorts, combined with a colourful neclace and, in fact, black dancing shoes. It was a peculiar outfit.

"Pleased to meet you, my name is Sasara Haruka." She introduced herself with a polite bow, then popped her head up, grinning.

"Oh my god, Tsukasa, I cannot believe you're getting married!" She exlaimed excitedly.

Tsukasa looked at her blankly. "Who are you?" He asked in his own, rather rude, manner.

"What? Seriously?" Haruka looked at him in disbelief. " I mean, sure it's been ten years and all, but still, I didn't think you would have forgotten about me already!"

Tsukushi looked at her fiancee who seemed a little baffled by the carefree way in which the young woman adressed him.

"It's me, Haru!" She said again and something seemed to click in Tsukasa's brain.

"Ha-ru...?" Now he seemed even more dumbfounded.

"um, I'm sorry, but, would you mind explaining...?" Tsukushi had no intention to be rude, but she, too, was utterly confused. Haruka looked at her.

"Oh, of course, how rude of me, I'm so sorry. Please, follow me, and then I'll explain.

Moments later the three of them were seated around a lovely coffe table, a cup of tea in front of each.

"Then, let me explain." Haruka started after looking at the dumbfounded Tsukasa who still hadn't said a word. "I think you could say I'm something like the F4s childhood friend."

"Childhood friend?" Tsukushi looked at her fiancee in disbelief. The F4 and friends?

""Well..." Was all Tsukasa had to say.

"You most probably know how troublesome those four can be?" Haruka asked.

Tsukushi nodded grinning.

"Well, when we were twelve years old the four of them had dance lessons for half a year. They had to, by their parents' order. My father was their instructor and since those four were too mean for any other female partner, I was the one who had to dance with each of them." Haruka explained.

"Tsukasa, you can dance?" Tsukushi asked.

"A little. But I prefer not to." He mumbled.

Haruka chuckled.

"Tsukasa's best dance was the Foxtrott."

"Foxtrott?" Tsukushi's confused look made Haruka smile.

"It's a Standard dance that is classic, but slightly mischievous." She explained. "There's various dances in ballroom dancing."

"Is that so..." Haruka could tell that Tsukushi was confused and Tsukusa disinterested.

"Well... It's hard to explain just like that, shouldn't we just show it to you once?" With that, Haruka adressed both of them.

Tsukasa looked up.

"Really?" He asked.

"Aw, come on, Tsukasa, I'm sure you still know the basic foxtrott steps. And I've improved quite a bit since we last met, you know." She winked at him.

And so, a not so very happy Domyouji Tsukasa was forced from his comfortable sitting position into the dance room. Haruka put on some music and left a bashed Tsukushi to watch on the side as her fiancee and the dance instructor put on quite some moves. When they had finished, Tsukushi was speechless.

"Wow!" She said "Just... wow! I didn't know you had that in you, Tsukasa!" She said.

"I guess I remembered more than I thought." He answered.

"Under these circumstances I guess it's best if we choose a foxtrott as your starting dance." Haruka said.

The couple had no objection and so Haruka began their dance lesson with the basic steps for foxtrott.

In the end, they could do the basic steps and some spins, so Haruka was satisfied. As she served them some water she talked to Tsukasa.

"Say, Tsukasa... I know this might be rude, but since I'm here and all... do you think it's possible for me to meet with the other guys again as well?" She looked at him with pleading eyes. "I haven't seen them in ages!"

"Well, I don't really mind." Tsukasa said.

"In fact, we're meeting tomorrow night for some drinks at Nishikado's. If you want, you can accompany us." Tsukushi said. She liked the open and cheerful dance instructor who easily spoke her mind in front of one of the F4.

"Wow that would be great!"

They chatted on for a few minutes before Tsukasa had to leave. Haruka lead them to the exit and waved them goodbye, a blissfull smile in her face.

"But really, Tsukasa, that you didn't even recognise her!" Tsukushi scolded him when they were out of sight.

"No, you don't get it." Her fiancee said "She looked entirely different back then... Almost like a boy."


	2. Chapter 2

Haruka looked in the mirror and ruffled through her hair. She wasn't happy with the way it looked; but then again, she never was. Her flurry of brown hair was cropped short and curled around her ears. Frankly, she looked like a little kid.

"No, no." She shook her head to her mirrored self. "Think positive! Think eyes, eyes!" She'd always liked her eyes, which, do to her mother's foreign decendance were a dark shade of green. She took a step back and inspected herself from head to toes. The dress she was wearing cute enough. A black base covered with soft pink Sakura petals. Her soft pink jewelry accentuated the pattern. She took a last look, then grabbed her bag and made her way to the subway.

She had been pretty calm the entire time, but now she was starting to get nervous. The huge japanese manor that was the Nishikado's place was, itself, very intidmidating. Combined with the fact that she was meeting four of Japan's most influential men who used to be her childhood friends, her heart rate sped up.

She rang the bell and was led to the side building from where she could hear both male and female voices laughing and chatting.

She took a deep breath and entered the room. Upon her entrance, everyone fell silent. She was looking at three of the F4 as well as a pretty blonde girl, a gorgeous redhead and a sweet looking brown haired girl.

"Uhm, hi, everyone!" She said, forcing a smile in this strange situation.

Nishikado Soujirou, the ladies' man of the group sprang to his feet first.

"Well, who do we have here?" He said, putting an arm around her shoulders and guiding her to the round of comfortable chairs everyone was seated in.

Due to her profession Haruka was used to body contact, but she couldn't stand Soujirous womanizing ways. Therefore, she plucked his and form her shoulder and took a step back.

"I see you haven't changed at all, Soujirou." She sighed.

"Haha!" Akira laughed "You've been shot down, Soujirou! And by a stranger at that!"

Haruka blinked.

"Stranger?" She looked at Akira.

"I'm sorry, but, who are you?" An annoyed Soujirou asked before Akira could answer.

"Seriously? You, too?" Haruka was shocked. "You don't recognise me?"

Akira and Soujirou shook their heads.

"Well, guys, I'm-"

"Haruka." Rui said. The quiet guy had sat silently and not said a word but at him raising his voice, Haruka's heart jumped a little.

"Yep, that's right." Haruka said, not taking her eyes off Rui. He had changed his hairstyle a little, but all in all Hanazawa Rui was still gorgeous in his own, dazed-off way.

"What? Haru-chan/Haruka-chan?" Soujirou and Akira both exclaimed.

"Well, you certainly changed." Soujirou added as a late follow-up and inspected her from head to toe.

Akira whistled. "Well, you've turned into quite a lady, haven't you?"

"Thanks." Haruka smiled and blushed slightly.

Indeed she had turned from her tomboyish twelve year old self into a rather self-confident 22-year old young woman.

"We're late, we're sorry!" A flustered Tsukushi flew into the room, dragging her fiancee behind.

"I'm not sorry!" Tsukasa exclaimed.

"Ah, Haruka, you're already here! Hey!" Tsukushi greeted her warmly and Haruka could feel herself loosening up a little.

They all sat down, introductions were made and the situation explained to everyone who didn't already know.

"The F4? Dancing?" Shigeru was cracking down, laughing and Haruka instantly decided that she liked her.

"They did!" She confirmed grinning. "And, what's more, every one of them had their own specialty dance!"

"No! Really?!" Shigeru was listening intensely as Haruka leaned in secretively.

"Oh, come on, we really don't need to-" But Tsukasa was cut short by Shigeru.

"Sh!" She put her entire hand into his face and left him to Tsukushi to calm him down.

"Well, for Tsukasa, it's Foxtrott. Akira, slow and romantic, the Rumba. Sexy, and a little indecent, for Soujirou it's obviously the Tango."

"Why obviously?" Soujirou put on a little pout, which made Haruka chuckle.

"And, Rui, all classical, but eye-catching and elegant, the Viennesse Waltz."

"That's amazing, didn't you say it was ten years ago? And you still remember?" Yuuri, the gentle girl looked at her inquiringly.

"Well, it was quitte a... let's say, significant, time in my childhood time." Haruka's smile was mixed with a bit of unease.

"Significant? More like, you were totally lovestruck!" Tsukasa said, grinning mischievously.

"Wh-what?" Haruka blushed violently.

"Tsukasa!" Tsukushi looked at him sternly.

"It's true! You were totally in love with Rui back then!" He exclaimed nevertheless.

"Was not!" Haruka responded in a rather immature way. But that was the best way she knew how to respond to that immature guy.

"So were! You even kissed him, at the airport!"

"KISS?!" Everyone except the F4, who had witnessed that spectacle, were stupefied.

Haruka blushed an even deeper shade of red.

"W-well" She pouted "I was twelve years old and I thought I'd never see him again..." She looked to the ground.

"Wow, how brave." Sakurai commented while everybody else was still dumbstruck, except for Akira, Soujirou and Tsukasa who had put on a smug smile.

That moment, Rui, who had said very little until then, silently got up and went outside.

The crew stared at him as he left the room. Haruka got on her feet immediately.

"Now look at what you've done!" She scolded the three of them. "Now I have to go and figure out a way out of this mess!"

They sank a little deeper in their chairs.

"Well, it was you who kissed him, not us." Tsukasa mumbled, but Haruka shot him a gaze that shut him up immediately.

Then she jogged out of the room and went looking for Rui.


	3. Chapter 3

Haruka looked around. The hallway was splitting in two, and she had no sign of Rui, but on a whim, she strode to the right.

She folled the way and reached the outside terrace. There, she found Rui sitting on the ground, looking at the little pond in the garden. When he heard her approach, he looked up.

"May I?" She asked quietly and gestured on the free space to his right.

"Do." He nodded and she sat down.

"I'm sorry." Haruka said. "I didn't think they'd bring that up." She looked up into the sky. There weren't many stars visible, as so often in big cities. A gentle breeze ruffled through her hair.

Rui was quietly looking out at the dark garden.

"You know" He began "I'm surprised you turned up like that."

"It's me who's surprised." Haruka answered "I was really happy though, when Tsukasa's wedding planner contacted me."

"Is your buisiness going well?" He looked at her now, honestly waiting for an answer.

"Well, I manage. I do a lot of wedding jobs like that. But, obviously, they're usually one-timers."

"I see." He looked away again "Your parents?"

Haruka smiled.

"They're out to see the world."

"What?" Rui's expression was priceless.

"Yep. One day, they just told me they were going to travel the world. So, off they went, leaving me behind with the dancing school."

"How curious."

"It's fine though; they call a lot, send hundreds of pictures and seem utterly happy." Haruka felt a warm joy everytime she thought of her kind and caring parents.

"They are good people." Rui said.

"Thanks. Rui?"

"Yes?" He looked into her eyes and she could feel all those silly little feelings slowly trickling back to her heart.

"I am sorry they brought that up tonight, but I just want you to know that the feelings I held for you, genuine as they were, are in the past."

Rui blinked, then smiled his ever so gentle smile.

"It's fine. Sometimes they're just making too much of a commotion for my taste."

"They are real troublemakers. But Tsukasa seems to have found a good companion."

Rui agreed.

"She's the real deal." He added, smiling. Haruka took notice of the hint of sadness that clouded Rui's words. She felt a little sting in her heart, got up and went to the pond. She knelt down and gently touched the smooth surface.

"Soujirou's house is still very traditional, huh." She said as she watched a couple of Koi fish swimming around each other.

Rui had stepped beside her, looking at the fish, too. Suddenly, Haruka heard a little plop. Out of instinct, she touched her ears and realised that one of her earings had fallen into the pond.

"Oh no! They were real rose quartz!" She pushed her whole arm underwater, and fumbled for the pink drop.

"What's up?" Rui looked at her action in astonishment.

"My earing! It fell in!" Haruka explained. Rui got down on hi knees as well, pulled up his sleeve and helped her search. Immediately, Haruka reacted.

"No, Rui, please, that's not necessary. I'll find it, no worry; and anyway, it's not that expensive!"

But Rui kept searching the pond's ground.

"No, really, Rui, I-" She tugged at his shirt, but suddenly lost balance. On a whim, she reached out for Rui; but instead of keeping her on shore, it made them both tumble and fall into the small pond. It wasn't deep, but they'd fallen head first, and Haruka gasped for water when she came up. Sitting on the ground she could pop her head out of the water.

Rui came up coughing.

"Oh god, Rui, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Ah! Found it!" Rui interrupted her and reched for her shoulder. He picked something from the hem of her dress and held it up. It was her earing.

"Here you go." The soaked Hanazawa Rui, sitting in a pond, reaching her her earing was such a comical sight that she coudn't help but burst out laughing.

Rui, understanding the reason for her laughter, started chuckling, too.

They got out of the pond, he helped her stand up and they made their way back to the others.

"Rui, Haru-chan, what happened?" Soujirou had a smug look on his face when they returned, soaked from head to toe.

"Well, what do you think?" Haruka retorted "Obviously, we had reunion-sex in your Koi pond, what else?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Haha." The playboy returned dryly.

"You're all wet!" Tsukushi exclaimed and immediately she, Yuuri and even Shigeru came fussing around them.

"What did you do?" Shigeru asked. Haruka sighed.

"My earring fell into the pond and while searching for it we lost our balance and... well." She shrugged. "Aw man, the nice dress..." Her pretty black dress was covered in water and mud.

"I think I should loan you some clothes, no?" Soujirou asked, grinning, but meaning well.

"Please!" Haruka begged.

"Sure." Rui added.

"Come, follow me, you can change over there."

The three of them left the room and Rui and Haruka followed Soujirou to a bathing room.

"Wash yourselves and put your clothes in here. I'll have them washed."

"Thanks, Soujirou." Haruka said as he went of, waving. Then she realised that there was only one bathroom.

"Oh, um, I mean, you can..." She mumbled and gestured towards the bathroom entrance, but Rui had already taken off his shirt.

"Rui! Don't strip in front of me!" She shoved him into the bathroom and waited. She was feeling a little cold in her wet dress, but she couldn't help it.

Before Rui had finished, Soujirou had returned with a chnage of clothes for each of them. He handed Haruka hers and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Rui, you airheaded idiot!" He said "How come you bathed first?! Haru-chan's a girl, you know!"

The door opened a little and Rui's arm came out so he could grab the clothes. After a few minutes he came out changed.

"Really, don't make her wait in the cold like that!" Soujirou ranted on, but Rui ignored him and approached Haruka. He looked at her holding the clothes, then gently patted her head.

"Sorry." He said and made his way back to the others.

Haruka and Soujirou looked after him, flabbergastet.

"Geez, that Rui!" Soujirou sad. "Always off in his own world!"

Haruka chuckled.

"Yeah, he is."


	4. Chapter 4

Soujirou had left Haruka on her own, so she went into the shower.

The hot water warmed her through. She rested her hand on the place where Rui had patted her head. She sighed. Then, suddenly she felt like screaming.

"Raaaaah! No way!"

She was glad the shower noise covered her voice.

When she was all warmed up, she stepped out and put on the clothes Soujirou had given her. She looked in the mirror, stared, then spun around and angrily stormed back to the others.

"Soujirou!" She shouted.

"Yes, Haru-chan?" He was smiling innocently.

"What kind of clothes are these?" She asked furiously. The guy had provided her with a hoodie and jeans overalls.

He laughed.

"I just wanted the others to understand why we hadn't recognised you earlier. That's much better, don't you think?"

"No, I don't think!" That outfit was a part of her past.

"Um, Haruka-san, don't be too upset. You look just fine." Yuri said. Haruka looked at her blankly.

"Wow, Yuuri-chan, you're a really bad liar."

Yuuri looked flustered. Rui looked up.

"What's the fuss? Where is the big difference?" He asked.

Oh, great! So he didn't care whether she was dressing pretty or not! ... No, wait! It's not like she cared what he thought. She sighed and popped into one of the big, comfortable armchairs.

"And my hair's a mess, too." She said.

"Well, you should see Tsukasa's hair when it's drying. It looks hilarious!" Tsukushi was trying to cheer her up. Haruka raised an eybrow, but smiled.

"I wanted to look nice tonight." She explained "After all are you guys not only my childhood friends but super rich! I didn't want to look like a poor girl."

"Don't worry. We're used to poor people since Tsukushi joined our group." Tsukasa said matter-of-factly.

"You brat!" Tsukushi swung her fists. "And just who made me join your group of selfish rich bastards, huh?!"

"Well, well, why don't we all come down?" Akira asked, acting all mature and motherly as always. Haruka chuckled.

"Oh man, I guess you guys really didn't change all that much, huh?" She asked, grinning.

They all spend a lovely evening after that. When morning approached, Haruka heaved herself out of the chair.

"Well, I guess I'll be going now." She announced. Everyone who was still awake objected.

"You can sleep over, if you like, Haru-chan." Soujirou said.

"That's nice, but no thanks. I've got a dog. He cannot stay alone for too long, you know." She explained.

"A dog...? Is that so..?" Tsukasa asked, his voice all sleepy.

"Yes. It's green, has six legs and eats onigiri." She said, just to test him.

"Sounds nice..." He answered and Haruka snorted.

"You guys better go to bed soon, too." She concluded.

"How do you get home?" Akira asked suddenly. Rui raised his head and Tsukushi and Yuuki looked at her, worried.

"Well, the underground..." She let her voice trail off.

"No way. At three in the night?" Akira got to his feet. "I'm taking you home."

"It's okay, Akira. It's nice, but you don't have to be such a gentleman. Remember how I used to beat you guys in Karate?" She asked, and yawned.

"That's way different now!" Akira said "You're a girl and I'm taking you home. Guys, see you next time." He said, then led her out of the manor swiftly.

"You're still such a worriwart." Haruka said, but she was smiling.

"And I intend to stay one whenever it pleases me." He smiled back at her.

They got in his car and engaged in pleasant conversation until he dropped her off.

Back at the Nishikado manor, some of the party were quite astonished by Akira's behaviour.

"Never thought he'd do that." Soujirou said.

"Do you think he... you know..." Tsukushi looked at him.

"Akira and Haruka?" Soujirou asked. "No way. She's much too young for his taste. All the more reason to wonder why he'd do that."

"Hm..." Rui looked at the door through which the two of them had left.

Arriving at the Dance Studio (Haruka's apartement was on the first floor of the building) Haruka bid Akira good night and then entered the house. When she opened the door to her flat, her dog, Totoro, greeted her with a sluggish wag of his tail.

"Yeah, I'm glad to see you, too." She bent down to stroke his head then got ready for bed.

As she was slipping into the dream world she was thinking about everything that had happened that night and she fell asleep with a smile on her face.


	5. Chapter 5

"Well done, everyone!" Haruka said and clapped as her class of senior dancers left the room, greeting her in their friendly grandma-ish manners.

She was done for the day, with two wedding couples in the morning and four regular dance classes at night as well as starting preparations for one of the classes' graduation proms, it had been a busy one. After everyone had changed and left, she went behind her desk and checked her numbers. They were alright. She wasn't making a fortune, but it was enough to get by. But even so, she thought, if I were to fall ill, I could barely hang on...

"A penny for your thoughts."

Haruka looked up and saw Akira had entered her studio and was walking towards her with a pleasant smile.

"Akira! Hi. What are you doing here?" She asked, not to be rude, but he was a busy Yakuza's son and she simply wondered why he would visit her.

"I was in the neighbourhood and thought I'd swing by." He answered.

"Adultery again?" Haruka asked, raising one eyebrow. She'd heard of his 'girlfriends the night before and couldn't say she was pleased. But, on the other hand, if the elder women were so easily persuaded by him, it couldn't be much of a stable marriage they were in.

"Her husband came home early." He sighed and took one of the plushy armchairs in the seating corner she'd gestured towards. Haruka sat down as well and studied him. He looked sad; Soujirou had told her the night before that Akira actually fell for the women he was dating, even if they were always only brief affairs. She gave him a sincere smile and leaned back. Sitting down in the soft cushions felt heavenly.

"So? I doubt you're just here to visit me?" Haruka asked after a while. Akira had looked around her studio entrance hall, his expression approving.

"Well... actually..." He began. She looked at him enquiringly. "I was wondering whether you had noticed something peculiar last night..." He continued. When Haruka said nothig, he blabbered on. "Between Soujirou... and Yuuki-chan..." His voice trailed off.

Indeed she had noticed something. As a person who worked with couples most of her time she could tell affection and sexual tension when she saw it. She'd done her best not to enquire after it, as it seemed somewhat awkard between them.

"I did." She answered shortly. "And?"

"Oh, come on! Do I have to do the entire work here?" Akira asked a little exasperated.

"I do have a hunch what you're implying, but I don't see your connection with me." She said honestly.

"Oh, for gods' sake!" He answered "I want to set the two of them up!" He threw his hands in the air as to imply the importance of this mission.

"I get that there's a heavy sexual tension between them, but I'm afraid if you want my help, you'll need to tell me why exactly Yuuki-chan with Soujirou." She looked at him impatiently. Akira halted for a few seconds, but then told her the whole story of everything that had happened between those two.

"And so I think that Soujirou might actually be in love for real for the second time in his life. But he's holding back because of Yuuki-chan's innocent nature and the fact that she's Makino's best friend." He concluded. Upon hearing that, Haruka fell into a long silence. She understood now, why Akira wanted to set them up, but she couldn't just... oh, hell, she loved to meddle! She looked at him and smiled mischievously.

"What's your plan?" She asked.

"Tsukasa's wedding preparations." He answered. She shot him a confused look. What did this have to do with that? "I want you to confince him and Makino, that, if their wedding is to be a success, all of us will have to take proper dancing lessons again. If we're not to embarass him, you know."

She scowled.

"If all of you are still as good as Tsukasa, it might be a little tricky to pull that off." She answered honestly.

"Can't you just pretend?" He said with a little pout that made her grin. "Anyway, Yuuki-chan can't dance, and I'm not convinced that Shigeru's the best dancer on the planet. And Sakurai... She usually gets wasted at parties, so I've never seen her dance properly."

"Hm... Well, all right, I'll try, but I cannot promise anything!" She reminded him as his face lit up. "But, I'll do that tomorrow. I've had abusy day and honestly, I just want to have dinner and then go to bed." She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"Do you want to grab some dinner with me?" Akira asked. She looked at him, astonished.

"Akira, I..." She started.

"Don't worry, it's just a thank you!" He retorted quickly. "And anyway, you're much too young for me." He said and winked. Haruka chuckled at that.

"Well, in that case, I'd love to!" She answered happily.


	6. Chapter 6

Haruka changed form her sporty work attire into an elegant blouse atop a knee-long skirt. she added some refined jewelry as she was sure that the place Akira would take her was not in the cheap family restaurant category. The F4 didn't do cheap; or at least they didn't know how to.

When she returned downstairs, Akira had disappeared. She looked around for him and found him inside the dancing studio, playing with the stereo. She cleared her throat to announce her presence and he looked up. He studied her, then smiled.

"Perfect." He commented.

"Thank you." She answered, pleased.

"Your place is really neat." He looked around "For a commoners' place." He added.

"Oh, wow, Akira, I do not deserve such words of praise from one of the great F4!" She said dramatically, then grinned. Akira was the most down-to-earth of the four and so he rolled his eyes.

"Ok, ok, message received. No more commoner comments." He answered.

"Thank you!" Haruka exclaimed. She wondered what any of those four would do if they were ever to fall bankrupt and lose all their money. Not that she wished for it to happen.

"So, shall we?" Akira asked, offering her his arm after he'd turned off the stereo. As an answer, Haruka smiled broadely, took his arm and off they went.

...

"Hmmm, delicious!" Haruka commented as she took another bite of her pizza. Akira had taken her to a fancy little Italian place, something he must have considered casual. The prices were rather high for pizza and pasta, but the food extremely good.

"I'm glad you like it." Akira said. He had chosen some pasta, but was barely eating. Haruka noticed that, swallowed her pizza and glanced at him.

"What?" The guy asked.

"You know..." she started "You've been rather quiet tonight..." She shot him a worried gaze.

"Oh?" Akira answered simply.

"Something wrong with me?" She asked. Maybe her dress wasn't good enough, or she was behaving too... common?

"No, it's not." He smiled pleasantly. "It's just that spending time with you like that makes me feel nostalgic. Tsukasa, Soujirou, Rui and I barely meet each other any more since we've been actively engaged in our companies' futures..." he explained "And I sometimes feel that I want to go back to just leading our carefree school lives."

He took a sip of his wine and looked out of the window. Haruka snuffled and he turned towards her again.

"What?" He asked.

"No, it's just that it's the complete opposite with me." She answered honestly.

Akira raised an eyebrow, gesturing for her to continue.

"I've been an awkward teenager. Due to moving I've always had very few friends and frankly, I had now style." She chuckled "It took me a long time to find the right way to dress up."

"You're doing quite well now." Akira said in an honest tone.

"Thanks. It was a lot of work." She grinned "But I never want to go back to my teenage years again. I was never happier than I am now; except maybe for six months ten years ago." She winked at him.

They finished their dinner with pleasant conversation, digging out old adventure stories from long ago. When they were leaving, Akira insisted on paying for Haruka too, even though she offered to pay for herself more than once. He was helping her into her jacket, all gentleman-like and they were walking towards his car. They were still talking when Akira halted suddenly. Haruka turned her head to look at what had made him stop and stared into the surprised face of Rui.

"Ru...i?"

His eyes squinted.

"Hey, Rui, what are you doing here?" Akira asked nicely.

"We were having a business meal around the corner." Rui answered, still staring at the two of them.

"Really now? What a coincidence, since that's exactly what the two of us were doing, right, Haruka?"

Haruka turned her eyes towards Akira slowly, then, nodding ever so slowly she answered:

"Yes, that's right."

"I see." Rui said, a cold ring to his voice.

"Well, it's late, you know." Akira was obviously trying to relieve the tension with his overly cheerful tone. "We best get going. I'll take you home, Haruka-chan."

He gently put his arm around Harukas shoulders who, being stared down by Rui, couldn't think straight anymore.

"See you, Rui!" Akira exclaimed.

"Good night." Rui's gaze had now shifted to Akira's hand on Haruka's shoulder.

"Good night." Haruka answered quietly.

Akira gently led her all the way to the car and put her on the passenger seat. When he had sat down behind the wheel, he snorted.

"Well, that was... awkward." He commented, starting the engines.

"Yeah..." Was all that Haruka could say.

"I sometimes really don't get Rui, you know... he's always off in his own world."

"Hm..." It was that kind of heads-in-the-clouds behaviour that Haruka had always liked about Rui. It was pleasant spending time with someone who really didn't care about other peoples' opinions.

They spent the rest of the way in silence and when they arrived, Haruka got off quickly.

"Thank you, Akira, I had a nice evening." Most of the time... She thought as she was waving at him.

"You're welcome." He said "And don't forget to call Makino tomorrow."

Haruka chuckled.

"I won't. Promise." She smiled at him brightly then turne and walked down the small stone pathway that led to her home. She felt too uneasy to sleep and so she took Totoro for a lat night walk which her happy dog commented by wagging his tail excitedly. She walked to the nearby park and sat down on a bench, while Totoro was exploring the grounds. She wasn't scared of strangers, since she had learned Karate from her earliest years and continued practicing in her free time even now.

Her thought trailed off to the unexpected meeting with Rui and time and again she tried to make sense of his behaviour, but without success. One of the perks of that guy were that you could never follow his thoughts. He was such an extreme individual that interpreting anything concerning him was absolutely wasted effort. She sighed, then got off the bench, called out for Totoro and walked back home.


End file.
